Renewed passenger rail service between Banff and Calgary?

[Icantwhisper]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Considering all the Pathletes in Springbank, if Canmore to Calgary gets a paved bike route, the yuppy, skin tights, will be in droves.

Also, not sure you understand what the term "pathlete" means

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by rohara66

This project will get appealed into oblivion... not gonna happen.

By who? There is precedence of the opposite occurring, actually.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by Icantwhisper

Also, not sure you understand what the term "pathlete" means

Son, I’m gospel.

[Zoller]

An interesting opinion saying self-driving cars will make passenger rail obsolete and I tend to agree. I think passenger rail is a short-sighted investment. We've already invested heavily into road infrastructure in North America.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/st...number=8733934

Imagine a "train" of self-driving cars all communicating with each other in real-time. They could drive at much higher speeds and much closer together. If a moose crossed the road the car at the front would brake, but the cars behind it in the train would also all brake at the same time.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Zoller

An interesting opinion saying self-driving cars will make passenger rail obsolete and I tend to agree. I think passenger rail is a short-sighted investment. We've already invested heavily into road infrastructure in North America.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/st...number=8733934

Imagine a "train" of self-driving cars all communicating with each other in real-time. They could drive at much higher speeds and much closer together. If a moose crossed the road the car at the front would brake, but the cars behind it in the train would also all brake at the same time.

That's interesting, though still wouldn't solve the parking issue (if that's a priority to you).

From the perspective of self-driving cars, I wonder if it would be feasible to have a public fleet, in addition to personal cars? Think a group of Car2Gos in train formation along #1 and then everyone goes their separate way once they reach Banff... To me, that seems far more appealing than passenger rail.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by Zoller

An interesting opinion saying self-driving cars will make passenger rail obsolete and I tend to agree. I think passenger rail is a short-sighted investment. We've already invested heavily into road infrastructure in North America.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/st...number=8733934

Imagine a "train" of self-driving cars all communicating with each other in real-time. They could drive at much higher speeds and much closer together. If a moose crossed the road the car at the front would brake, but the cars behind it in the train would also all brake at the same time.

Anybody who calls funding for rail a subsidy but funding for roads an investment isn’t somebody worth taking seriously.

[Zoller]

Originally Posted by you&me

That's interesting, though still wouldn't solve the parking issue (if that's a priority to you).

From the perspective of self-driving cars, I wonder if it would be feasible to have a public fleet, in addition to personal cars? Think a group of Car2Gos in train formation along #1 and then everyone goes their separate way once they reach Banff... To me, that seems far more appealing than passenger rail

It might be worth it for larger municipalities to invest in a fleet of self-driving cars for public transportation purposes. It could be an area that taxi companies fill. There could be a future where individual car ownership declines as cities/taxi companies use their self-driving fleet to pickup/dropoff people from their front doors.

Parking might not be as big of an issue as the cars could just stay on the road waiting for their next pickup.

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Anybody who calls funding for rail a subsidy but funding for roads an investment isn’t somebody worth taking seriously.

The author of the article appears to be aware that both rail and roads fit the definition of being subsidized industries.

He makes it clear it is governments putting up the majority of the money in both situations.

Keep in mind it is an opinion article. But it is well referenced and provides a compelling argument.

[powderjunkie]

I feel like high-speed+long distance+variable conditions will be the last and toughest nut to crack for AVs...especially if it is a shared environment with meatbags behind the wheel.

I may be wrong, but I think the acceptable for a computer to manage risk on an icy highway may be quite slow.

That said, I wouldn't necessarily mind adding say 25-50% to my travel time for mid-range trips if you end up in your destination with the benefits of having your vehicle and cargo (and a little more freedom/control of your trip).


It definitely makes long-term infrastructure planning tough. If I had to guess, I'd say we may be looking at dedicated lanes for AV's on busy high-speed roads, at least for a few decades of transition.

[Wormius]

Then really why bother with a fleet of self driving cars at all and just go with regular bus service?

[Zoller]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Then really why bother with a fleet of self driving cars at all and just go with regular bus service?

The benefits to the elderly, the disabled, as well as the increased convenience of being picked up and dropped off at any location, might be worth the investment alone.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Then really why bother with a fleet of self driving cars at all and just go with regular bus service?

Honestly, I think because busses suck. I wouldn't get on one. Seems lame to me. Trains at least have some appeal, but busses just don't. The infrastructure for busses (aka roads) have been around forever. Busses to Banff have been around forever. Nobody takes them because they're lame.

Calgary almost suffers from being too close to the mountains in that regard. By the time you get to a bus terminal, park, board, wait for the strugglers to get settled, etc., you'd already be in Banff just driving your car.

Is parking the biggest problem here that it keeps coming back to? Yeah, I think building like a three-story parking structure or clearing out space for another parking lot will a fata-ton more practical and cheaper than a train or trying to get a bus fleet going that nobody will use.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Honestly, I think because busses suck. I wouldn't get on one. Seems lame to me. Trains at least have some appeal, but busses just don't. The infrastructure for busses (aka roads) have been around forever. Busses to Banff have been around forever. Nobody takes them because they're lame.

Calgary almost suffers from being too close to the mountains in that regard. By the time you get to a bus terminal, park, board, wait for the strugglers to get settled, etc., you'd already be in Banff just driving your car.

Is parking the biggest problem here that it keeps coming back to? Yeah, I think building like a three-story parking structure or clearing out space for another parking lot will a fata-ton more practical and cheaper than a train or trying to get a bus fleet going that nobody will use.

Sure, buses aren’t great, and I would obviously opt for the train, but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for self driving cars.

I don’t believe it’s a viable option and if the goal is just to move a bunch of people to all nearly the same location, a bus makes more than a group of self-driving cars all following each other *like* a train on the road.

To solve parking, I don’t know why don’t just build lots of underground lots so they’re not blights on the landscape.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Then really why bother with a fleet of self driving cars at all and just go with regular bus service?

Transporting goods or multiple people and the scales tip pretty fast.

Trains/buses will [almost certainly] always make sense for daily commuting. But it's definitely a valid question whether that same rigid transit model makes much sense in off-peak hours or lower ridership areas.

I believe a lot of CT community shuttles are trying an on-demand/uber style system (which is probably working well?). The current fleet probably isn't ideal for it (aside from a COVID spacing standpoint), but I think they may be transitioning towards:



and even:


Maybe someday:

[para transit fellow]

Here is a link to the 2021 Canada Infrastructure Bank report on the proposed rail link. I didn't recall seeing this study previous listed in this thread.

https://1mqwcr2l0hbg45j6hmovm581-wpe...Rail-Study.pdf